General Recipe for Balls and Burgers

Normally, I don't actually follow a recipe for veggie balls or burgers. I just put together whatever we have on hand, including whatever veggies that I want the kids to eat, and make sure it will hold together into a ball or burger. So, for example:

Fried onion slowly in a little oil until soft. Add a crushed clove of garlic and some cumin and fry just a few seconds more. Put this into a food processor with:

Some cooked beans (either from a tin, or cook them from dried - I keep a couple of containers of precooked beans in the freezer so just use these - I like adzuki beans or black eye peas, but you can just use red kidney beans or whatever you have)

Some cooked brown rice (you could use white if that's all you have)

Vegetables of some sort - even defrosted frozen spinach, although it will make the balls green, or you can use mashed potato, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc, or grated carrot or zucchini

Egg or egg replacer (equivalent to one or two eggs, depending on how much mixture you've made - usually only one)

Then, if its too soft, add some breadcrumbs or put it in the frig' for a while. I'm usually doing this last minute, so I just work with it soft or add the breadcrumbs.

I don't usually process until smooth, just until combined.

Shape into balls or burgers. My preference is to make balls for dinner that night and some extra to freeze, and once I can't be bothered making any more balls, I make burgers to freeze - so I end up with enough for at least three meals usually.

Coat with flour, or you can coat with breadcrumbs. Fry until golden.

You can also add veggies to the nut burgers, but the advantage of these ones is that if your kid's school has banned nuts, you can still send a few of these in a little container with tomato sauce for lunch the next day, as they are nut free.

When I serve these for dinner, we will just have one simple veg with them - potato or corn on the cob or something similar. It is a nice easy meal that the kids will usually eat, and ends up being very nutritious.